We spent the morning and early afternoon getting the final things done to put Eos back together after our storm stripping efforts. It all went back together as planned. Luckily Bill had marked things and locations with blue tape and notes so we knew where straps and such had been attached for the bimini and weather cloths in the cockpit.

We got an email from Christian and Evelyne on Samuri. They had weathered the storm in Liscombe Mills up river in Liscombe harbor. The wind had reached 47 and right then their two anchors had let go. They quickly got them reset and everything was just fine from then on. They sent us a couple of pictures of Eos sailing from Pictou that I will add to the gallery. Sure hope we will be able to see them again.

About 1500, John and Joan Lane on Changing Lanes and Eos cast off from the docks at St. Peter's Lion Club Marina and went through the St. Peter's Lock to tie up in the canal for the night. We want to get an early start tomorrow and the lock hours are now from 0800 to 0430.

After we were all tied up and secure for the night, we joined John and John and her sister, Millie, and her husband Derrick for supper. Millie and Derrick have just started on a month long RV trip and came from Newfoundland yesterday to see John and Joan. The RV was parked for the night right beside the canal where we were tied up. It was a lovely meal and it was great to meet and get to know Millie and Derrick. They are going basically the same route we are only on land. Our hope is that we will be able to connect with them again along the way as they plan to connect with Joan and John. Bill told Millie that we now expected them to be available at each spot we stopped. Millie really got a kick out of that.

We got a phone message from Ken on Fair Wind and he was in Chester in Mahone Bay east of Lunenburg. He didn't say much but had obviously weathered the storm in Halifax since he was on the move again.

It rained off and on all evening and we eventually moved into the RV for supper and socializing. When it started again around 2100 we high-tailed it back to Eos and settled in early. Changing Lanes and Eos are heading out around 0500 when it is light enough to see the unlit buoys in the channel.

08 September, 2010 - Liscombe Harbor

We were up and on the move by 0530. It had rained during the night so everything was wet on deck but we donned our ice fishing outfits with the padded butts and knees and were toasty and dry as we motored along. We followed Changing Lanes out the channel.

Because of our size we can go faster than Changing Lanes so we soon passed them and John's last words on the VHF to us were "Next stop Liscombe Harbor". The wind and seas were calm as we motored out and stayed that way until around noon. It was partly sunny but it looked like things weren't as nice where we were headed. They put up sail before we did in order to motor sail. We soon lost sight of them however but saw a sloop going the other way and a ketch in the distance going our way. We eventually passed the ketch as well.

Around noon we put up the main and jib and attempted to motor sail. For awhile it was pretty iffy and then the wind filled some to the south and we got about a half a knot boost from the sails. We sailed past a large group of seals probably 20 or more. They were cavorting in the seas and looking up at us with "what are you doing in our back yard " look. We still had to have the "iron wind" going but it was nice to have the sails up and Eos at least looking like a sailboat.

We were doing fine until around 1530 when it started to try to rain. It was off and on but then Bill could see on the radar the rain patches coming toward us. We finally decided that we would get the sails down before it really started to pour. We then continued motoring into Liscombe Harbor and dropped anchor in a cove a mile west of the entrance to the harbor.

About 1830 we heard a hail from outside and Bill looked up to see a mast going past our stern. Changing Lanes had arrived. We were certainly glad to see them and know where they were. They decided to go on and see if they could get a berth up river at Liscombe Mills.

We are securely set and comfortably nestled into the cove. The winds tomorrow are forecast at SE 20-25 km and 2-3 meter seas. If that proves true we will probably just stay anchored here for the day.

09 September, 2010

It rained a great deal last night and a thunderstorm erupted near by but our location is such that the winds weren't an issue and most of the lightening was cloud to cloud. This morning we checked the weather, contacted John and Joan, and all decided that today was a stay where we are day. Fog rolled in mid-morning and was an issue most of the day. It would come and we couldn't see any land and then it was dissipate some and we could see land again.

We had a leisurely morning reading. As I was fixing lunch I looked out the porthole and there were John and John motoring up in Changing Lanes. They rafted up to us and we lunched and chatted about where we would be going next. We all then jumped aboard their boat to go over to Liscombe to take a look at the public wharf where they wanted to spend the night. The tide was down and the entrance we were going for didn't look so great so they decided to go around the island and check out the wharf. At that point I suggested that they take us back to Eos so they could just stay at the wharf if they wanted to and wouldn't have to take us back later. We waved them off and then about 10 minutes later they were coming back. They had looked at how far it was to get around the island and decided it wasn't worth it. Instead they dropped anchor in our little cove.

We all relaxed for the rest of the day and then they rowed over in their dinghy for an evening visit. About 2100 they were ready to go back to Changing Lanes but we couldn't find her initially because the fog had rolled in again. Our big spot light finally located her and off they went.

10 September, 2010

We were up and weighing anchor at 0615 just after day break. Eos and Changing Lanes made a two boat parade as we left Liscombe Harbor. We had decided to go to Sheet Harbor - Changing Lanes to the public wharf and Eos to an anchorage nearby.

We soon were motoring away from Changing Lanes again. The seas were about 3-5 feet and the wind was on our nose almost all of the time so it was another day of motoring. The skies were completely overcast and the wind chill was 57 F. Not the most comfortable conditions but it wasn't raining at least.

We were at the point to turn in to Sheet Harbor at 1045. I had looked at the charts and it was only another 1 ½ hours to Shoal Harbor which would put us 10 NM closer to Halifax than Sheet Harbor. I didn't see any reasonable stops between Shoal Harbor and Halifax so we would be looking at a 50 NM run to Halifax from Shoal Harbor. We decided since we were making such good time and the seas and weather weren't so bad we would go on to Shoal Harbor so the Halifax run would be shorter than if we left from Sheet Harbor.

By the time we got to Shoal Harbor the skies had cleared and it was a beautiful sunny day with 15 kt winds and the same seas. But, oh, what a difference having the sunny skies make. We motored into Murphy Cove in Shoal Harbor and had the anchor dropped by 1330.

We got in touch with John and Joan and they were almost to the public dock in Sheet Harbor and were planning to stay there until at least Sunday.
It was great buddy boating with them and we may connect up again in Halifax depending on when they get there and when we leave.

11 September, 2010

After a quiet, star studded night at anchor, we were up and had the anchor raised and were off at 0645 for Halifax. When we got out of the protection of the anchorage and harbor, the winds were a steady 15 kn from the NNW and the seas started out at about 3 feet. All of this, of course, just off the nose of the boat so we could close reach. Good conditions to make comfortable time to Halifax. We raised the staysail and reefed main and moved down the coast at a steady 6.5 to 7 knots.

As the morning progressed, the winds built to 20 with 25 knot gusts and the seas were 3-5 feet but by motor sailing we could still maintain our average 7 knot speed over the ground. It was overcast and cool so we had on our cold weather ice fisherman suits. They are warm and nicely water proof as we learned as the spray came flying back into the cockpit when we stuck our nose into some of the big waves and rollers. Eos was comfortably handling all of it and we were just as comfortable.

We arrived at Halifax harbor about noon the skies cleared and it was a beautiful sunny but windy day. A big boat race had just started and they were popping their Spinnakers as they got to the end of the 10 mile harbor and reached the Atlantic. What fun to watch. Then as we progressed up the harbor there was a smaller boat race going on in the large area at the fork in the harbor. We made sure we stayed out of their way, of course, and moved on up to the wharf areas.

As we were moving along I got a phone call from Changing Lanes and they were about 20 miles out from Halifax and coming in. They had looked at the winds and decided to take advantage of the speed and direction rather than stay in Sheet Harbor another day. We told them we would check when we got in to see if there was space for them where we were going.

We weren't sure where we were going but finally got James on the phone and he talked us to the correct wharf and then 15-20 minutes later he was there to take our stern line as we came in. There is a floating dock along the wharf so we have a ramp to get to shore and don't have to climb a wharf ladder. That's nice. We settled Eos in along the floating dock. The wind and seas were hitting her just ahead of the beam so she was kind of bouncing around. It is safe enough but just won't be nice and quiet here like we had gotten used to at anchor. It was 1330 when we were all tied up. It had been a 7 hour fun ride for us.

Joan and John on Changing Lanes came in around 1830 and they were happy to have us and a couple of power boaters help with their lines. The winds had continued to build and they had sailed the last several hours in solid 25 knot winds with gusts to 30. As soon as they got Changing Lanes settled in we were all off to an Italian restaurant just up from the wharf for a lovely dinner and some time on a solid non-moving surface. It felt good after all of this time on the water.

We will be in Halifax for at least two days and then will look at the weather and move on down the coast.